


Horses of Destruction

by Hera_Sith



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Carl Grimes is dead, Fix-It, M/M, Negan Being Negan (Walking Dead)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 16:22:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20997770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hera_Sith/pseuds/Hera_Sith
Summary: What if Daryl was the one to lead the walkers away in Rick's final episode? What if Rick interrupted Maggie's confrontation with Negan in the cell? How would these events change the canon events?





	Horses of Destruction

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I finally decided to watch season 9 of the Walking Dead and couldn't accept how they wrote Rick off. One of my favorite parts of the comics is Rick and Negan's relationship after he's put in prison, so here's a fix-it fic to remedy the lack of content we'll get on the show.

Rick holds his hand out to Daryl like an olive branch, trying desperately to meet his second-in-command’s eyes, “Brother… brother, take my hand.”

When Daryl finally takes it, relief flashes through Rick. Relief that this man who threw squirrels at him and pulled a knife on him within minutes of finding out his brother was left to die on a roof still considers him family. That relief is quickly clouded over by the desperation to pull him out of the metaphorical pit of hell. 

“Heads up!” 

Rick twists around and takes out his hatchet in one smooth motion, slicing through the walker before he follows Daryl back to where they left his motorcycle. 

Seeing the white horse randomly appear through the trees, Rick pauses for a long moment, staring at it. 

“Come on!” 

“I’m staying--” Rick begins before Daryl cuts him off. 

“No, man. I know what you’re thinkin’, and there’s no way I’m letting you do it.” Daryl’s voice has an edge of hysteria to it as he glances between the huge group of walkers and the man who has somehow come to be his brother. 

“Someone has to lead them away from camp,” Rick says, the horde getting closer and closer as they continue to debate. “I’m not giving up on it -- not yet. We need it.” He grabs Daryl’s shoulder, forcing him to meet his eyes, “Listen to me. Please. We need it.” 

Daryl huffs, glancing in the direction of the bridge, then Rick before he finally makes a decision, “That horse looks ready to run from its own shadow. I’ll lead them away, you go catch up to Maggie. I’ll radio Tara, see if we can come up with a plan.”

Rick sighs, running a hand through his hair, almost startled when it just stops, no sweat-soaked curls trying to blind him, “Be careful.” 

“Go be the man Carl wanted you to be,” Daryl says. He mounts his motorcycle at the same time Rick mounts the horse. 

“Thank you,” Rick says before he snaps the reigns and nudges the horse with the heels of his boots, making it go as fast as it can through uneven forest floor. In the distance, he can hear the sound of Daryl’s motorcycle 

As soon as his people open the gates to Alexandria, Rick hops off the horse and sprints toward the prison, ignoring any questions as Carl’s final written words race through his head. He understands Maggie’s need for retribution against the man who killed her husband -- if Negan had killed Carl or Judith, even Lori, he’d probably feel the same. However, Carl’s final wish, his vision for the new world… Rick would do anything to make that a reality. If keeping an insane old man alive, wasting away in a dirty old cell with no one but Rick and the occasional Alexandrian for company is the way to do that, then so be it. 

“Rick?” Michonne asks, grabbing Rick’s shoulder, her voice laced with confusion as he barely even glances at her, the betrayal of Carl’s memory too fresh to deal with. Michonne was the one who convinced him to read the letter, to listen to Carl’s final wish before he went too far and became exactly who he wished to destroy. How could she let Maggie destroy everything Rick built in Carl’s honor?

“Don’t you punk out like Rick. Kill me. This is what you came here for! You kill me!”

Rick brushes off Michonne’s grip, fighting the emotions swirling around his chest. He can almost hear the final gunshot that sounded off in that church. The one that ended his son before he could come back a monster. Would Maggie be walking out of this prison a monster? 

“Move into the light.” 

Was Negan even a monster anymore?

“Kill me.”

Rick rips the door of the prison almost off its hinges and enters to see the cell door already open, Negan crumpled against the wall, crying. Both Negan and Maggie look to Rick at the same time, both their hearts dropping in unison but for different reasons. The door hits the wall hard enough to slam it closed once again. 

Maggie glances between Rick and the sad excuse for a man on the floor, her grip already loosening on the crowbar. 

“Please, please,” Negan whispers between his tears. 

“Why?” Rick asks, his eyebrows wrinkled as he looks at Negan, the man who promised Rick was just getting the world prepared for him once again. Was he putting on a show? Was he really that defeated? 

“She has to,” Negan says, automatically finding Rick’s gaze, like a magnet drawn to its opposite. “It has to be her. I can’t, you can’t.” 

Maggie drops the crowbar, the sound reverberating off the walls closing in on them, “Get him back in his cell.” 

Maggie goes outside and past Michonne, whose expression is still like that of a deer caught in the headlights, frozen in place.

Inside, Negan throws himself at the discarded crowbar, wrapping his hand around it in a grip that turns his knuckles white. Rick jumps right after him, rolling Negan over and pinning the hand with the weapon to the ground, “Thought you said you couldn’t do it. You back to tryin’ to kill me?” 

Negan huffs out a laugh and fully relaxes, one of the few rays of light barely hitting his left cheek, making his grey beard glow in the darkness. His voice doesn’t sound nearly as defeated as it did talking to Maggie, “I never wanted to kill you, Rick.” 

“Past tense now?” Rick asks, easing the crowbar out of Negan’s relaxed hand, the one that still bears the scar of whatever Eugene did to the bullets of the Saviors’ guns. How different everything would be if like his people, that gun had ricocheted back into Negan’s head instead of his hand. 

Negan swallows, eyes flicking over Rick’s face that unlike his, is completely in shadow. Only his eyes glint with the reflection of light from the outside, “I’ll work with you.” 

Rick lets himself fall on his butt next to Negan’s prone form, glancing at the door every so often as he vaguely remembers he should probably go see Tara about the herd Daryl was trying to draw away. Hopefully that corn fuel holds out long enough.

“I want to build bridges, but your people can’t even build a physical one. Let alone a metaphorical one,” Rick says. 

“I thought they were your people now,” Negan says, that sarcastic bite returning to his tone now that it’s just the two of them. 

Rick smirks, nudging Negan’s shoulder with his boot, “‘Course I had to get custody of all your problem children in the divorce.” 

Negan stutters out a laugh, still surprised Rick has the emotional capacity for more than just anger and defeat, “Does that make me the mommy or the daddy?” 

Rick sighs and stands up, offering Negan a hand once he’s on his feet again, “Neither. I’ve gotta be both.” 

Negan takes Rick’s hand and allows him to help him back to his feet. Once up, he strolls back into his cell by himself, whistling as he goes. Rick takes the opportunity to close the door and lock it behind him. 

“All that you were saying before,” Rick begins, then pauses as he works up the courage to look into Negan’s eyes again. “About tryin’ to kill yourself. Is that true?” 

Negan’s quiet for a long moment before he smiles and nods, his dimples cutting into his cheeks more than they used to due to his not eating. “Got nothing better to do than jack off and think of creative ways to kill myself when you’re not here telling me all about your day like a good husband.” 

Rick nods once, his hands aborting their movement towards Negan several times before he takes the keys out the lock and steps back. 

“It’s not working, Rick,” Negan says right before Rick opens the door to the outside. Rick stands there, back to Negan as he continues. “This building bridges shit. Sometimes you’ve just gotta let people sink or swim on their own.” 

“Coming from the man who wanted to save everyone.” Rick looks over his shoulder at Negan, “It’ll work. Eventually. Maybe it’s too soon.” 

“Timing’s a bitch,” Negan says emphatically as he sits back down on his shitty cot. 

Rick throws the crowbar into the far corner of the room before he exits, too far away for Negan to reach from inside his cell. Negan’s gaze lands on it immediately when the door closes and locks from the outside. 

Maggie is nowhere to be found. Michonne stands there with guilt twisting her features, unable to look Rick in the eye. Rick stares at her for a long moment before he puts the keys in his pocket and walks up the stairs. 

“Rick! Rick, Daryl’s having trouble with that herd,” Tara says, a few other Alexandrians following behind her. “He’s headed for the bridge.” 

Rick closes his eyes for a long moment, pinching his nose as he mourns the world he wants and grudgingly accepts the world he’s going to be forced to live in for a little while longer. 

Rick returns to the present to see all eyes, including Michonne’s from a distance, on him, “Direct the other herd to merge with this one. Tell Eugene and Rosita to meet me at the bridge.” 

Tara nods and immediately starts talking into her walkie as Rick once again sprints toward the gates of Alexandria. This time, he mounts his usual horse and rides out toward the bridge. 

“Where’s Rick?” Rosita asks, parking her quad on the outskirts of the camp. 

Eugene shrugs and watches as Daryl slowly leads the two herds, now one, towards the bridge, “It seems it may be up to us to finish this.” 

Just then, Rick jumps off his horse, meeting them halfway, “We’re going to take down the bridge.” 

Rosita’s eyes bug out, jaw momentarily ready to catch flies before she composes herself, “You’re going to explode your bridge?” 

“It’s our bridge,” Rick says defensively, shoulders tight until he takes a deep breath. “It’s our bridge. And we’re going to use it to defend ourselves so we all have a chance to make it to tomorrow. All of us.” 

Rosita pales, “You… I heard about Maggie.” 

Rick nods once, “She did the right thing.” He gently grasps Rosita’s arm to get her to walk with him as they talk, motioning for Eugene to come too. “Now, I want a controlled explosion. Only taking out the wood part so if we decide the time is right in the future to build it again, we have the option.” 

“The water…” Eugene begins before both pairs of eyes are on him. “That sounds like as good a plan as any.” 

“Thank you,” Rick says as the three come to a stop at the huge supply of explosives in the middle of the bridge. He glances over at Daryl, the herd still slowly coming their way. 

Rosita and Eugene do most of the work setting up everything, though they trust Rick to do the placement. Once everything is in place, Eugene passes Rick the string they’ll use to light it up old-school. 

“Alright, you two get to a safe distance and take the extra explosives with you. I’m going to wait on the other side with Daryl,” Rick says, nodding to the two as they scurry off. Daryl’s already made it to the bridge, revving his engine every once in awhile to keep the walkers’ attention on himself. 

“You were right,” Rick says when Daryl comes in earshot of him, digging in his pockets for Glenn’s old lighter. He flips it open and waits for Daryl to get a little bit closer before he sets the rope on fire and begins to run away, shooting a couple shots off into the air to continue attracting the walkers with noise. 

Daryl pushes his motorcycle to go faster, clearing the bridge before Rick. Just then, the fire finally meets the explosives and makes them go off one after another, ripping apart the first few rows of walkers and destroying only the wooden part of the bridge. Once Rick gets over the initial shock of just how loud the explosion was, he and Daryl watch as the huge burning herd dumps itself into the flowing water. 

“You gave up the bridge,” Daryl finally says, small smile on his face as he looks at Rick. 

Rick shakes his head as he holsters his Python, “Wasn’t the right time.” 

Unbeknownst to Rick, the communities that had gathered in the camp to help with the herds stare in awe at the man who ended the war and now saved them once again. Quickly pulling themselves together, Maggie, Michonne, and the others lead some small groups to deal with the stragglers, though they’re easy enough to get through after the majority were burned and washed away. 

“So you burned your physical bridge,” Negan says, amused grin on his face as he leans casually on the bars of his cell. “And built some metaphorical ones in the process.” 

“All in a day’s work, dear,” Rick says wryly, leaning back in the chair he finally dragged in here. It’s about time he has a place to stay when he and Negan have these frequent chats. 

“Well fuck, Rick, had I known you’d take my advice to heart, I would’ve suggested you give me some kinda sad, eye contactless handjob rather than blow up a bridge.” 

Rick shakes his head and runs his fingers through his beard, “You actually have some good ideas when you take the time to separate your head from your ass.” 

Negan gasps mockingly, the hand he slaps to his cheek making a comical sound, “If only you had been this grateful when I made you my spaghetti.” 

Rick looks up at Negan through his eyelashes as he stands up, walking within arm’s reach of Negan, sliding his hand through the bar to grip his shoulder, “Thank you.” 

Negan’s entire body freezes for a long moment before he forces himself to cough long and hard enough for a prostate exam, “Holy fuck, Rick.” 

Rick actually laughs and takes his hand back as he goes to leave. 

“Why’d you leave the crowbar?” Negan finally asks, moving in his cell to get as close to Rick as possible. 

Rick glances at the crowbar still in the far corner collecting dust, “You can’t. I can’t. Maggie can’t. I think it’s time for all of us to accept you’re going to be here for awhile. Up to you what you want to do with that time.” 

Negan raises both his eyebrows as Rick exits and locks the door behind him. 

“If you or Maggie or anyone ever do something like that again, I’ll have to treat you how I treat anyone who tries to kill an Alexandrian,” Rick says, slowly cleaning his Python on his patio next to Daryl. “I was elected Mayor, whatever that means. Sounds like a fancy way to not call me a Governor.”

Daryl looks up from sharpening his arrows, squinting at Rick as the pain of losing Merle shoots through him, “You’re nothing like the Governor.” 

Rick chances a glance at Daryl, holstering his cleaned gun and rubbing at his forehead, streaking some oil around that seeps into the curls he’s been growing out again, “If I ever become like him, I want you to stop me.” 

Daryl stares at Rick for a long moment, “What if you turn out like Negan?” 

Rick looks down at his hands, a vivid memory of Negan threatening to ruin them seizing him for a long moment. “Like he is, or like he was?” 

Daryl swallows hard, “Is there a difference?” 

Rick nods shallowly once, then fully a few more times, “Yeah. Yeah, there’s a difference.”

Negan supposes this must be how Rick was when he was dealing with himself and the Saviors. Desperate, driven, strategic, and so, so beautiful. Fuck. 

Rick tells Negan all about this group that calls themselves the Whisperers. How Alpha is so much worse than Negan ever was, how he’s not sure if he’s going to win this one. If Carl would want him to do what it takes to win against people like this. 

In the midst of everything, Michonne decides to leave Rick for Oceanside, something she says was a long time coming, that they couldn’t stay together just for Carl’s memory’s sake. 

In the end, all it takes is Negan saving Judith and bringing Rick Alpha’s head on a literal silver platter to end it all. 

“I think it’s time to build bridges, Rick,” Negan says later, after all the other leaders have left and decided what to do with the rest of the Whisperers now that their leader is dead and gone. 

Rick walks up to Negan, still not used to seeing him out of his cage. Without Lucille. Slowly, he brings his hand to Negan’s cheek, stroking the too-long beard he finds there with his thumb. Their eyes meet like they always do, as if it’s impossible for either of them to look away from each other when they’re in the same room. 

“It never would have worked, you know,” Rick says. 

Negan scrunches his eyebrows, afraid to move anything else in case a slight breeze might make Rick stop touching him, “What?” 

“The sad, eye contactless handjob.” 

Negan finally forces himself to lay a hand over the one on his cheek, “You’re right. I would’ve been fucking ecstatic having your hands all over me.” 

Rick huffs a shaky laugh, resting their foreheads together, “And I’ve seen the way you stare at me. You’re not fooling anyone.” 

“Is that right?” Negan’s voice deepens, sounding like it did the first few months after Rick slashed his throat. 

“That’s right,” Rick says right before Judith bursts into the room calling for her daddy, and the two quickly break apart. Rick picks up Judith and gives her a kiss on the forehead, carrying her out of the room and leaving Negan standing there struck dumb, deaf, and stupid. 

A couple months later finds Rick knocking on the door to Negan’s cabin outside Alexandria, a smile on his face when Negan answers that he can’t hold back. Negan had shaved since the ordeal with the Whisperers, only a light dusting of whiskers on his cheeks. 

“It’s done, we rebuilt the bridge,” Rick says, raising both hands to grip Negan’s shoulders and shake him gently in his excitement. “I told you it’d happen.” 

“Well fuck, Rick. You sure did tell me,” Negan says, unable to suppress his own answering smile. “Look at you gettin’ shit done.” 

“I also told you to figure out how you want to spend the rest of your time,” Rick says, still not releasing Negan’s shoulders as both sets of eyes instinctively find each other. “How’re you liking your freedom?”

Negan sucks in a deep breath of air, staring at Rick for too long to just be friendly, “Is that what we’re calling it?” 

Rick scrunches his eyebrows and drops his hands, glancing around the front porch as if he’s checking to see if he got the wrong address. His voice sounds smaller than usual, defensive, “Seems a lot better than a cell at least.” 

Negan motions for Rick to come inside, hearing the door close as he takes a seat at the kitchen table. Rick isn’t too far behind, though he takes his time looking around at the place before he sits. It’s Rick’s first time visiting despite Negan having lived here for months. Rick had made the arrangements to move Negan immediately after the Whisperers were defeated, though the bridge took up all his time and energy once Maggie suggested they finally rebuild it. 

“Who’d have thought a few years ago that we’d end up in a fucking cabin in the woods playing footsie under the table?” Negan says, smirking as Rick quickly pulls his foot away and crosses it over the other one. 

“I’m fairly certain no one could have seen any of this comin’,” Rick says, his gaze landing on the crowbar hung up on the wall like a prized sword. Both of his eyebrows raise as he stands up and walks over to it, taking it off the wall and twisting it around in his hands. 

“Named it Prick,” Negan says right into Rick’s ear, causing a shiver down his spine. When did he follow him? “Used it to kill that Alpha bitch. I’m awfully fond of it, you know.” 

Rick slowly turns around, Negan not letting up an inch as they make eye contact. Rick swallows, opening his mouth to say something, though the words don’t come out. 

“Told her it was for you,” Negan continues, taking the crowbar from Rick’s hands. “Told her I tried to beat you and it just can’t be fucking done. Then I told her you’d take real good care of her people like you took care of mine.” 

Rick licks his lips, guilt weighing heavy on his shoulders as he remembers being unable to save some of the Saviors, especially Negan’s inner circle, “I tried to...” 

“If you can’t beat ‘em, I said, you’ve gotta fucking fall in love with them,” Negan cuts him off, working the cane-like end of the crowbar around Rick’s neck. “But I really, really don’t like sharing, as you know.”

Rick nods, a small smile sneaking its way back onto his face, “You love me?” 

Negan huffs out a laugh and uses the crowbar to reel Rick in closer, “I’m in fucking love with you, you prick.” 

Rick closes the gap the rest of the way, Negan using the crowbar to hold Rick in place as their lips meet and they, final-fucking-ly, build the final bridge between their people.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are the only way for me to fight off the Walkers. You wouldn't want me to get bit, would you??


End file.
